Slow Life

Greece 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:23:00 +0000

If you care to look, the photos from my trip to Greece this summer are here on Flickr.

I went climbing for the first time, and did pretty well. Didn't fall at least! (though of course there is a rope, and someone holding it).

Here was another chance to fall, closely avoided:

It wasn't all relaxing- I did some work at Konstantine's villa:

This was just after the hammock I was spending all my time in broke and dropped me onto the hard ground. The holiday was therefore officially over.

The wallet test

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:56:00 +0000

Researchers for Reader's Digest left wallets with cash and an owner's address inside in public places all over the world. The idea was to see which countries had the most honest population. Turns out Mexico was the least honest, with only 2 out of 10 wallets returned. But in Norway, every single wallet came back to the researchers. Apparently even in Oslo people do the right thing (although for the test here they did leave them in the suburbs rather than the city centre).

You can read the full article.

This is more evidence to support my feeling that Norway is the nicest country on earth to live in. I still lock up my bike, though. 'Trust in Allah; but tie your camel first'.

Thorns

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:54:00 +0000

I remember being young and imagining how it would be to be blind. To wake up one day and not be able to see any more. Or to be deaf and not to be able to hear what people were saying to me. My brother and I would ask each other, if we had to choose, would we rather be blind or rather be deaf? I don't remember what my preference was back then (obviously, neither) but I do remember suddenly imagining something even worse: think what it would be like being deaf AND blind! That always made us quiet, the idea of such a terrible fate.

I remember not long after that, my older sister Jo explaining to me that 'disabled people' as we called them then, were not necessarily 'disabled'. They are just forced to live in a world surrounded by people with one or two physical advantages over them. In a way, it's us that makes them disabled. Again I was quiet.

Later on I was at university in Harrow. We had a modern campus with ramps, lifts, signs and all that stuff. This is the paraphernalia we are all used to seeing in the UK, which has slowly become more and more visible. It's there to make the lives of this 'disabled' minority a little bit easier. It's a victory for the forces of consideration and the rights of the individual, and of course it's a very good thing. And so we can all feel good about ourselves and feel how clever we are for being so inclusive.

I was at this campus and I saw a middle-aged man with dark glasses and a stick. He must have been blind or partially-sighted. I watched him as he walked confidently alone alongside the car park, on a path surrounded by neatly-trimmed bushes. And then the cruellest thing happened: one single bramble plant was somehow, improbably but lethally, hanging out at eye-level. It was absurd to look at, sticking out like that, almost as if it was there on purpose waiting to catch someone unaware. The thorns scratched deeply across his face and he began screaming in pain, bleeding horribly. There was not much I could do to help him. The injury was cruel, but worse was the feeling that hit me, the understanding of this being one of countless injustices someone like him has to face in the course of their lives. No matter how hard we think we try, the able-bodied, sighted, hearing majority will always be ignorant of the petty miseries we are probably causing people like him.

Anyway, I'm thinking about this because of the job I've been doing this evening (and on and off for the last year), translating the contents of byggforalle.no , a website funded by the Norwegian state which is supposed to give an overview of public buildings for persons with disabilities. There are considerations being made for lighting, toilets, hearing apparatus, even colours inside and outside buildings which can make all the difference to these people. It's another job worth doing, I think.

I really should be getting on with it, then...

Summer holiday 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:34:00 +0000

Top 10 things about being on holiday:

- The hammock
- Ice tea (after it’s spent about two hours in the freezer)
- Being barefoot all day
- Eating slow meals, and drinking all the beer or wine as I like
- Catching up with some of the many albums I haven’t had time to hear
- Watching the ‘free dogs’ (as Konstantine calls them)
- Doing a little bit of leisurely, obligation-free gardening work
- Washing outside in the sun with just a bucket of water
- No reminders, no appointments, no to-do lists, no deadlines.
- Actually having time to think

My least favourites things are pretty much all insects. Many of the insects here I can’t even identify- but that doesn’t stop them being vaguely threatening. Mosquitoes are annoying. There are lots of spiders. Snakes have already proven to be a problem in this part of the world (White snakes = nice, black snakes = deadly, apparently). I just saw a hornet the size of a small bird. In fact, Konstantine thought it actually was a bird, until we saw it crawl into a crack in the wooden walls of the villa. Apparently we are sharing our house with it.

We're in east Attica, Greece. We are close to the sea, an hour from Athens, and we have almost no plans at all. Next week we will head to Skiathos and maybe Skopelos, islands a few hours north of here.

I got a minor thrill today when I managed to find an open wireless signal for the first time here, by holding my laptop up in the air from the balcony. This is perfect, because it is just inconvenient enough to make sure neither of us spend longer than a couple of minutes online (simply because it hurts your arms!) and no more. But it’s good to have some kind of connection to the outside world, you know, in case we actually do meet a black snake, or the hornet decides he prefers to keep the house to himself.

Swiss Spaghetti Harvest, 1957

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:12:00 +0000

Who knew?

Clean Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:18:00 +0000

I was just in Greece again during one of their national holidays, 'Clean Monday', when everyone is supposed to only eat healthy food and also, fly kites. This the day after what I can only assume is called 'Dirty Sunday', which I won't elaborate on. Anyway, after making our way across most of Athens on a fine, sunny day we pulled out our strangely shaped kite and joined the thousands of other people in the park.

In the video you won't see the thousands of other people and thier kites- but trust me, it was quite a sight. Don't worry if you don't understand any of the talking, because it's mostly Greek. Except for the 'Uh oh' at the end.

Stills from the video

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:33:00 +0000

Here are some more shots from the music video I am working on for Jim Protector. We are editing it soon, and it should be finished by the end of the month. It has been a colossal amount of work but I am pleased with the way it is turning out. For more pictures have a look at http://sethpiper.blogspot.com/

Photos from the Soviet Party

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:14:00 +0000

The pictures are up on Facebook from last week's party (which was a big success I think!). Click here to see them- you don't have to be a member just to look. Also a short bit of video.

Soviet Party

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:21:00 +0000

We are having a party on Friday 1st February at my new temporary address. There is a Russian theme which we are trying to take as far as possible, including a bit of decoration. There will be pictures to follow.

Anyone reading this who hasn't been invited yet, are very welcome to join us!

More Affluenza (Charlie Brooker)

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:50:00 +0000

Work In Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:37:00 +0000

Right now I'm working on an animated music video for Jim Protector, the band who I worked with last year making the album artwork for 'Shields Down', their debut full-length release. It's an excellent CD in fact, I've listened to it many times and musically there is a lot going on. The band came to me to help provide them with some kind of visuals to promote the album, specifically this music video. The track which was chosen is called French, and you can hear it here on iTunes or on their website.

The idea for the story came from Alex Svanberg, the band's front man. I had already started working on the storyboard in late 2006 while I was in Mexico, but back then there was no money available for me to actually carry out the project (animation is a lot of work, don't you know!). But this summer we applied to Fond For Lyd & Bilde- sort of like the Norwegian Arts Council- who like the storyboard and gave us a big heap of money to get it made, which was very surprising and exciting for me.

The deadline is February, so right now I am hard at work getting it finished. I have posted some still images here and will be adding more every couple of days, so please check it out and let me know what you think! It will help me get through the many, many hours of drawing, scanning, colouring and animating ahead of me in the next weeks.

Affluenza

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:59:00 +0000

Why is Britain messed up? I think it is, and I'm not the only one. Oliver James is psychologist and writer. I have read his books 'Britain On The Couch' and some of 'Affluenza', and the video above is of a recent talk he gave. Assuming you don't have the time or the inclination to read or watch all this, I can try to sum up some of the ideas.

Basically, he says that materialism makes people mentally ill. Specifically, the kind of materialism encouraged by neo-liberalist economics, which he labels 'selfish capitalism'. In the UK this phenomenon goes back to Margaret Thatcher and has by now completely taken over British politics (both Blair and Brown are undeniably Thatcherites and global champions of neoliberalism). I remember seeing Blair being asked 'Is it possible to have too much money?' and refusing to say yes. I can't find it on YouTube but believe me, it was both fascinating and very enlightening to see him squirm at that question.

James explains that we all have fundamental psychological needs. Security (emotional and physical), community (friends or intimate relationships), and to feel effective and autonomous. These needs are being seriously screwed around with by our 'selfish-capitalist' culture. Not that capitalism is necessarily bad, we just suffer when there is too much of it. I am glad to be here in Norway where at least we enjoy more of the benign kind of capitalism.

Anyway, about 8 minutes in to the film it gets very interesting. Many studies have shown that people who place a lot of importance on money, possessions, appearances and fame are statistically more likely to suffer from mental illness (depression, anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorders). These people tend to view their friendships as a commodity, only worthwhile to help raise their own stock towards their ideal wealthy, famous, attractive, desirable self.

He goes on to say that the English-speaking world has for many years suffered from an increasing and overwhelming number of commercial messages, over double so many as mainland Europe. Advertising clearly has a negative effect on how people feel about themselves, so why do we put up with it?

At 28 minutes he talks about the psychology of women who feel the overwhelming pressure to be beautiful. He contrast the 'selfish capitalist' outlook with the apparently much healthier Danish or Russian attitudes to beauty, where women tend to judge whether they are beautiful or not on their own terms. In contrast, the New York, 'Sex And The City' attitude- where women must look in the mirror and ask themselves (a) will other women envy me?, and (b) will men want to sleep with me?. If the answer is not yes to both of those questions, the woman is inadequate. This sick phenomenon is of course now all over the Western world. And one of the many consequences are that huge numbers of teenage girls suffer from serious depression, unable to match up to the ideal.

To end, he mentions how useless our democracy has become, following the American way, and actually how vulnerable America is as a country, how it will no doubt disintegrate much like the Soviet Union did twenty years ago. The U.S. is supposedly borrowing over $2 billion a day to keep their economy going, and this just can't go on forever. Tragically, there is only short-term thinking over there and also in Britain. The people who run our countries and corporations are only motivated by immediate profits and place almost no value on sustainability- which is suicidal, considering the environmental problems we are only just starting to face up to. The Chinese on the other hand are much more able to think long-term. Chairman Mao's famous reply when questioned in the 1950's about the consequences of the French revolution, was that it was 'far too early to tell'!

The amazing about this film is, he is talking to a room full of advertising and market research professionals!- the very people who are to blame for a lot of this. Which couldn't help reminding me of Bill Hick's special message to these people- don't watch if you are easily offended! (thanks to Audun).

The Gift That Keeps Giving

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:50:00 +0000

Super Furry Animals have long been my favourite band. Their albums are never less than brilliant and inspired, especially this years 'Hey Venus!'. If you're quick you can download their latest single for free here as a Christmas present. This is a band who have never sold out, even though they've been going for many years and had to change record companies more than once. For me, they proved this when they quietly refused to license 'Hello Sunshine' (beautiful video below) to Coca Cola, who wanted to use it in a big advertising campaign. This was partly because of Coke's alleged trade-union busting activities in Columbia. How much did it cost them to keep their principles intact? $1.8 million. Nice one!

Venice & Milan

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:59:00 +0000

I'm back in Oslo, but on the way I went to Italy with Konstantine: here are the photos. They might not be that interesting except for the fact that you can see my incredibly short hair (it was about time, as we all know). So have a look if you want.

Destroy Athens (part two)

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:16:00 +0000

I love to live in the city. Having grown up in a small town, I was always overwhelmed by the possibilities when I first went to visit London. I love the feeling of always being surrounded by so many things happening all at once- although like most people, I need to escape every now and again to stay sane. I have been lucky enough to live for at least a few months in several big cities already. They are all constantly changing- and it would be nice to think that they are evolving into better places to live. I'm sad to say I haven't actually seen much evidence of that in Athens. It is by far the most unpleasant city I have stayed in.

I started to write this to vent some anger, but I realised of course it won't make very pleasant reading. But hey, shouldn't I write the truth? Or maybe I was being too hard on this place? As I sat thinking I watched through the window as a man across the street cleaned his balcony. He carefully collected the old leaves and rubbish from the floor and then just threw it off the side onto the street below without a single thought, as if to remind me what annoys me so much about this place. So, Mr. Anonymous Balding Dirty-Vest Wearing Anti-Social Bastard: this one's for you!

What I saw him do might not sound like a big deal but when you multiply it by three million, you start to get an idea why Athens is such a nightmare. The streets are literally filled with junk. Old sofas and mattresses, broken bikes and sinks, rotting vegetables and endless piles of flyers for restaurants or computer courses which nobody even reads. Then there is the air pollution. It's something you just have to accept and I suppose living in Athens your whole life, you barely notice it. But I did (see the grey haze in the photo below which stops the beautiful blue skies ever being seen from street level). I heard that even though there are rules to prevent the worst kind of car emmissions, most people just bribe their mechanic to pass the test because it's marginally cheaper than actually cleaning up the exhaust fumes. There's a good chance that in 50 years global temperatures will have risen enough that life in mainland Greece is completely unsustainable, and we will know in part that it was today's selfish Athenians which helped to make it happen.

But that's not the worst part. Every city has traffic, but in Athens it is just ridiculous. Every driver seems to have a totally reckless attitude and doesn't give a damn if anyone gets in his way. Just to cross the road is to take your life into your own hands and of course it's impossible to cycle unless you have a death wish. It's worse here than even Mexico City was and a million miles away from the peaceful streets in Oslo. The few pedestrian crossings you can see painted onto the street are purely symbolic- the cars just don't ever stop no matter how long you wait. But most annoying is that people park their cars everywhere. It has to be seen to be believed, but take my word for it: each street is lined on both sides with cars and motorbikes, and there is usually only about a metre of pavement left to squeeze past. More often than not the pavement is completely covered with parked vehicles, so pedestrians have to walk in the road with all the traffic.

I ended up avoiding moving around in the city unless I could possibly help it. Fuming with anger I began to wonder, am I getting more intolerant to this kind of thing, or is there something wrong with the way people behave in this city? Getting to know the Greek attitude is kind of charming, but on the other hand it's a little bit sickening.I theorised that it was basically a major lack of consideration for other people which is almost encouraged in Greek society. It seems like unless you know someone, or are related to them, it would be foolish to make any effort to think about their well-being. The general thinking goes that you can't trust strangers even for a second, particularly including anyone working in the public sector (and don't even mention the Turkish or the Albanians). You have to 'get one over on the other guy' before he gets one over on you.

Where I come from, we take it for granted that you shouldn't behave in an anti-social way. You just don't do it. The few people who have a problem with following the rules are tolerated, or maybe punished if they get caught. We know that it's better to make that effort and have pleasant, well functioning public spaces because we all have to live together, and so we would all have to suffer together if we stopped caring. And yet, maybe we aren't any better, we just show consideration is a different way. In Greece there is an unusual emphasis on the family; parents still help out their children with food or money well into adulthood, and businesses are passed on in the same way. I suppose they would point out that modern North-European society is missing this strong link and that's just as sad.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant. I feel better.

Destroy Athens (part one)

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:31:00 +0000

It's funny to see a poster plastered all over the city where you live that articulates exactly how you are feeling. The words 'DESTROY' and 'ATHENS' have now become inextricably linked in my head. A closer look at this black-on-white text revealed that they were to promote the city's first ever art biennial, which I have been to see.

The whole exhibition had a very rebellious subtext. The first of the many spaces was filled with revolutionary posters, videos and artwork, but all contemporary and irony-free. Later on the rebellious theme became more abstract but still very confrontational: piles of bones and ashes, skeletons and broken models of tiny human shapes. Also there was plenty of more positive imagery, diveided into seven 'day zones'. There was so much to see it was exhausting, and the standard was very high. Even two Norwegian artists had contributed, but their films were a little embarrassing next to the rest of the work.

The obvious highlight for me was a giant mural filling one entire room (part of it pictured below) which depicted thousands of riot police clashing with protesters, who were portrayed as saints, all done in a gold-embossed religious style. I realised how topical this was when I read about the annual protests- or riots, really- which happen each November to commemorate some students and civilians who were beaten and killed in the 1973 Polytechnic uprising by the always-brutal Greek armed forces, including the police who naturally sided with the totalitarian regime. Each year their are big marches in Athens and Thessaloniki, some marching to commemorate the date and some using it to oppose the still conservative Greek state. The atmosphere as been tense all week, and I can understand why.

Walking around Athens I've been stopped many times by the police. They are always standing around street corners in groups of four or five looking less like law-enforcers and more like soldiers or, dare I say it, thugs in uniform. It's a rule here to be carrying photo ID at all times and if you are a young male, they are going to ask you for it- particularly in the richer neighbourhoods. The first time it happened I was confused, but the second time I was just angry. I don't actually understand how this helps to uphold law and order, it seems to me that it just polarises the police and the authorities apart from the public. Considering how far the British police have worked to counter this tendancy (back home they are now called the 'Police Service' instead of the 'Police Force').

It makes a lot of young people angry, and this week they are madder than ever. Usually I'm on te side of the protesters but I don't really know where my sympathies lie this time, because a few years back they firebombed the apple store and so it's been closed all week, just when I wanted to have a look at the new imacs. There are plenty of shops I would firebomb before that one, is all I'm saying...

Once Around The Block

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:15:00 +0000

It's now my second month living in Athens, and I have a new daily routine. The first thing I do in the morning and the last thing before I go to bed is to take the dog for a walk. Just like millions of other people do every day. But I've never been like those people; I could never understand their fondness for these simple four-legged animals. As far as I was concerned, there were normal people, and there were Dog People. You can spot a Dog Person by the hair and faint smell they inevitably carry around with them on their clothes. The way their expression turns slighty moronic whenever they see a dog- just like most people react to babies. They have unusual patience when dogs behave badly (which from the outside it seems like they do pretty much all the time and is something which has always annoyed me). It was just a year ago that I wss fantasizing about killing the dog who lived below us in Mexico City because of its constant yapp-yapping.

But I got it wrong; there are no bad dogs, only bad owners, or so they say. And I have found myself becoming a Dog Person.

This is Chloi. She is nine years old, and at home she is almost always quiet and well behaved. At first she was suspicious of me but gradually she has become more and more reliant on my stroking, walking and feeding her. Not that she has much choice- neither of us do. We have to live together so we are making the best of it. And I'm loving it...

Dogs are just funny, or maybe it's only Chloi. Watching her even for a moment usually makes me laugh. She is lazily scratching heself or wagging her tail expectantly. Of course she can't speak but somehow she is able to communicate a huge range of emotions just with her face. The smell of a dog, which at first was revolting to me, has slowly become less offensive. I might even like the way she smells (what is wrong with me?!). When it gets cold- and Athens is cold now- Chloi is worth having around just for the extra body heat in the room!

I am a little bit ahsamed to say I have been actively trying not to pick any up any Greek (I have my reasons) but the few phrases I have learned have been instructions for the dog. I can tell her to go away, come here, eat up, shut up, and 'shake hands'. When she hears the word 'volta' (which means 'walk') she goes crazy. When she is walking down the street in front of me people often look at her and break into a smile. Sometimes they even make the mistake of reaching down to stroke her, which is not a good idea; she considers it her job to protect me from all strangers. Suddenly walking through the city becomes much more pleasant, and believe me, making your way through the streets of Athens is usually far from pleasant... but more on that later.

When we come home she is extremely happy and always picks up one of her toys (or old socks) in her mouth as a kind of greeting. She loves to run or play chase, and hide and seek. Some nights we can just run down the road when it's late enough and there are no cars around. But she's an old lady and so even though she looks like she has plenty of energy, after a few minutes she will start wheezing and coughing.

For me, the best part of having a dog is that I'm being able to blame her when I spill something or mess up the dinner- because she won't/can't shout back. She sniffs around our food but if she is offered something she doesn't fancy she turns her head away politely. Last night she didn't like the taste of the broccoli i gave her, but knowing that she wouldn't get anything else if she refused it, she pretended to eat it but slyly pushed it under a rug with her nose. Dogs are apparently carnivores- unlike humans, who are omnivores despite what many people are convinced. That means they prefer a diet consisting mostly of meat, although arguably they can live a healthy life as vegetarians (like I have done for the last 26 years, for those of you who don't know). She eats all kinds of leftovers but just loves courgettes, bananas, lettuce, rice, pasta. Surprisingly enough she couldn't tell the difference between real meat an soya chunks which I had marinated in garlic, honey and herbs just like you would chicken.

If you have made it all the way to the end of this entry, the chances are that you too are a Dog Person. If you aren't then I apologise for writing so much about something so trivial wasting your time- but hey, it's hardly the first time. For what it's worth I should also apologise for all the barking in the night, the dog shit in your flower beds, the sniffing of your crotch. If you asked me just a few months ago I would never have said so, but now I think that it's true: the dogs are worth it.

Some Kind of Logic

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:04:00 +0000

Again and again in this blog I try to explain the reasoning behind my constant change of location. The fact is that my motivation is probably a lot less rational than it should be. There are all kinds of vague desires and emotional urges which appear every day in my head just to confuse me. This makes it almost impossible to live in the moment and appreciate where I am and what I am doing at any given time. I'm not proud of it; in fact it's probably only going to lead to some sort of deep unhappiness unless I learn to control these irrational urges.

I made a deal with myself a long time ago. I decided that I would begin a responsible, sensible life when I reached my 30th birthday. I would find a proper job with a real career path and stick to it. I would find one part of the world to live permanently. I would have my own place and collect all my stuff together there. I would have a newspaper subscription, maybe a pet, and I might even learn to drive. I would be the kind of person others could depend on, rather than the one depending on other people. I would ideally be in a happy relationship and make a commitment to that person.

Until that time came I would have none of these things. I decided that I would spend my twenties being irrational, irresponsible, sometimes just plain stupid. I would go wherever I felt like and even do the exact opposite of what everybody advised me to do, if that was the way my thoughts carried me. All the time I was aware that 'everybody'- my friends and family- always had my best interests at heart.

Living like this is selfish and totally indefensible, but that hasn't stopped me. I feel like this kind of lifestyle is the only thing I can do to avoid going mad or becoming horribly depressed. I can't imagine not having something new on the horizon, some new plan to keep me occupied. Over the last four years I haven't stayed in the same part of the world for more than a couple of months at a time, except Oslo for almost one whole year. The life I lead seems to make many people jealous when I tell them about it, but I know that there is nothing special about me- anyone from a rich country like myself could do the same if they wanted to. It's just about making different choices, sacrificing comfort and stability for a little bit of adventure. I'm not even very brave about it; some people lead wild lives scraping by only on their wits. That's hardly me, but I still feel like there is so much to learn and so much to see and that by falling into a conventional life too quickly I would be missing out on some extremely valuable experiences. I can't even begin to think about changing. I'm still just 26 and my plans allow me four more years of behaving like an overgrown teenager.

Since I last wrote here I made a list. Well, two lists. I wrote down all of the reasons to stay put in Norway for the winter (the sensible choice). And then I wrote down all the reasons for moving to Athens (these were all emotional and irrational).

Guess which list was the longest?

R.I.P. Thomas Hansen

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:11:00 +0000

Anyone reading this outside of Norway has probably never heard of Thomas Hansen, also known as St. Thomas. He died this week aged 31 of what is being explained as an accidental overdose. He suffered from psychological problems and depression his whole life and was very open about it. What is unusual about him is that despite being talented and successful he always remained incredibly modest. Even his later work has an earnestness and honesty that stands out a mile from the typical cynicism and calculated popularity of so much music being made today (in my humble opinion).

As far as music goes, he was unique in this part of the world. His songs were beautifully melancholic and he had a real ear for melody. His voice could be compared to an early Neil Young, but with an endearing Norwegian accent (he sang in English). To hear one of his live performances you can just follow this link, or go to his myspace page.

I have a real soft spot for 'alt-country', the label given to his style of music (as unfashionable as I know it is!). Back in 2002 I was lucky enough to get tickets to see St. Thomas play his famous gig at the Royal Albert Hall in support of the excellent Lambchop and Vic Chesnutt. Only I had to buy materials for my school art project and managed to miss the start. I still regret it, but my friend Magnus managed to see the whole thing. Norway being a small place, Magnus had already earlier met Thomas in a bar and talked to him. The story goes that when Magnus told him how much he liked his music, he reacted completely in character. "Do you really think so?" he asked with total, painful honesty.

Yes, we really think so.

The Ad Free City

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:19:00 +0000

Sao Paulo has recently become one of the only cities outside of the communist world to bring in a near-total ban on outdoor advertising. In Cuba or China this is already a reality, but for anyone who has been in London, New York, Madrid, or even Oslo, it's hard to imagine (see the Adbusters article)

The mayor of Sao Paulo has described the kind of aggressive outdoor advertising- the stuff most of us see plastered all over buses, billboards and shop windows every day- as 'visual pollution'. He says it has a damaging effect on the well-being of the city's inhabitants, just as air or noise pollution does. There is in fact no reason any of us have to put up with it, and perhaps surprisingly, it seems like the majority of people in Sao Paulo think the city is much better without it.

It's a revoltionary idea and I find it even more amusing after reading that just a few years back, the extremely dodgy but enormous American media company Clear Channel had spent a lot of money buying up billboard space all over Sao Paulo. Now it is worthless(!). Clear Channel's misfortune is definitly to be celebrated because they have unashamedly censored any criticisms of Bush or the Iraq war on many of its thousands of radio stations, refused to display anti-war billboard posters, and banned political music... not to mention blocking countless streets in Oslo with new advertising pillars and stands. This picture shows a vandalised advertising spot, one of the many that suddenly appeared in Oslo a couple of years ago alongside the (admittedly very useful) new Citybike stands. They are all over the place and I find it just outrageous that they were allowed to put them in the middle of the pavement forcing everyone to walk around them.

The mayor of Sao Paulo is actually from the right-wing party, so opposing aggressive advertising isn't just for lefties. Watch this video and notice how the reporter accidentally says several very offensive things to the mayor who gets angered (the humour of his question "but you're not exactly a communist" must have been lost in translation)

Restart Button

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:17:00 +0000

There's no avoiding the fact that I have been very lazy at posting on this blog for the last few months. I'm only human. A lot of the blame lies with Facebook of course, which as anyone who has signed up to it already knows is pretty time-consuming. It's nice to be in touch again with so many people and it is more of a two-way thing than writing a blog, but I want to keep this anyway.

What have I been doing? Working a lot- still at Amnesty, and I've had a little bit of illustration work now and then. I've been in Greece again and I went back to England for my birthday (I got some complaints from my family for not mentioning this before!). I had a great visit from a friend from Mexico. I missed Roskilde Festival and escaped some of the worst weather ever seen there. Suddenly become much more confident in my spoken Norwegian so I am getting ever closer to fluency. I've now also started to learn Greek to add to my list of obscure and questionable languages (so far I can count to five, command a dog to do various things, and say 'thank you' and 'i love you'- two phrases I repeatedly confused, most embarrassingly at a supermarket checkout).

At the weekend I was on the TV news, only I missed it of course (I don't have a TV). Several people told me how they had seen me joining in the Free Hugs event on Karl Johan here in Oslo. Last week we were walking back to the Amnesty office, saw the Free Hug people and went over to join in, naturally. I didn't notice I was being filmed but apparently they showed me throwing my arms out in slow motion and hugging one of the girls there (and it was a fantastic hug, really). We speculated how much nicer it would be if at 7-eleven you got a hug every time you bought something, for example. Who wouldn't like that?!

Anyway, no more for today. I just thought I might post a picture of my new place for those who haven't seen it yet, and my extremely nice new drawing desk.

Business as usual

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:44:00 +0000

Yesterday Britain got a new Prime Minister. After ten years Tony Blair has finally stepped down, and Gordon Brown is taking his place. Internationally this is not exactly a major event but still, hardly anyone has heard of Brown (but then, how many people remember who was Prime Minister for the seven years before Blair was elected?).

Here is a quick summary of British politics since the early nineties. Before Blair became leader of the Labour Party, a man called John Smith was in charge. He is thought of now as a sort of Kennedy figure who would have achieved great things and kept the true spirit of Labour alive- but we will never know, because he died of a heart attack in 1994. The obvious candidate for taking his place was in fact Brown, but it turned out that the younger and more charismatic Blair would have more public support and a better chance of winning the next general election- and he did. That was the birth of the New Labour beast, with it's two heads Blair and Brown, and the death of leftist politics in the UK.

Brown and Blair made a famous deal that after a certain amount of time, Blair would step aside to let Brown have his turn as Prime Minister. But Blair was not supposed to cling to power for ten years, and it is amazing that he has considering he has one of the lowest approval ratings of any British leader since the second world war. These two men- the two most powerful people in British politics- are known to hate each other intensely.

Now we have a new leader, will anything change? From what I understand of Gordon Brown it looks unlikely. He was a big supporter of the Iraq war/occupation (although not as fanatical as Blair) and he will almost certainly maintain the humiliating 'special relationship' with the USA which makes many people like myself so very angry. I wouldn't even consider living Britain again and paying taxes to a government like that without some major movement away from America. Not that I think it will happen though.

Panic

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:37:00 +0000

Last weekend was the wedding of two of my best friends, Bjarte and Camilla. I have known them both for years, before they got together or even met each other in fact. I lived with them for the first 18 months that I lived in Norway and they have helped me so many times since then. It is almost like they adopted me. So of course I'm incredibly happy to see them get married, as I know they are perfect for each other and will surely be very happy together. The wedding has been planned for a long time, yet Camilla didn't ask me if I would speak at the dinner until four days before. I owe them a lot, so I did what my instinct was telling me not to do and said 'Okay'. This was my first mistake.

The day of wedding came and I had made no preparations for the speech. I was still confident that I would think of something and that while it wouldn't be very impressive or funny or especially memorable, I would have a good chance to say what I felt and show Camilla and Bjarte how happy I was for them and how much I appreciate them in front of everyone. I was planning to say that I think of them as family, and had one or two anecdotes from the time I lived with them. I wrote a quick plan on the napkin in front of me and waited for my turn to speak.

After the service, which went smoothly for everyone and was beautiful in almost every way (perhaps excepting the religious stuff) we all made our way to the evening venue for dinner and drinks. Around 50 people were there and it was of course very formal. My second mistake was to tell people that I would be holding a speech. It could have been a surprise because I'm not really the speech-type. I found out that a lot of our friends had also been asked but had been smart enough to say 'No'. This is when I started to get nervous. Sweating palms and a lump in my throat. I found it impossible to enjoy the very nice, definitely expensive, specially prepared vegetarian meal in front of me. Magnus was acting as toastmaster and his speech went down fantastically. He managed to be very funny, slightly controversial and yet somehow entertain all the guests old and young. I was up next. After Magnus' brilliant effort I literally couldn't find my feet and had to beg him not to introduce me but skip my speech until I could get myself together. I needed caffeine and fresh air immediately. Luckily nobody noticed my speech was missed except for the bride and groom, who were told that I had suffered a massive nervous breakdown by a kind Magnus. I think the photos from the day will testify what a huge relief this was for me.

I have learned that even though sometimes it pays off to set yourself a challenge and ignore your fears, sometime it also is a very stupid idea. I will leave speeches to the other people- the ones who can address a crowd without having to constantly fight the urge to vomit.

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Moving on from failure, I should really mention my recent success. The album cover I made for Jim Protector (see the earlier post) has been well received. While the band was being interviewed on NRK's national radio station P3 Urørt, the presenter talked about the artwork. She described it as 'vakkert', which is Norwegian for 'beautiful'. They mentioned my name which was nice. You can hear the whole thing on the Urørt nettradio here (about 1 hours 30 mins into the program on 06/06/2007).

Even more exciting for me was to see the cover in the shops. At the music shop Platekompaniet in the centre of Oslo the CD was displayed right by the entrance on the end of the shelf, as you can see here. One of the proudest moments of my life so far, I think.

Greece

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:17:00 +0000

I just came back to Norway after taking another last-minute holiday. Yeah, I know, how do I keep getting away with doing this?! The answer is: it's not easy. I am in a lot of debt and the banks are on my back, but I will spend the next three months working solidly, six days a week. Now was a good time to take some time off before things start to get hectic as they do during the summer. Also it was my birthday, and I decided to treat myself.

The destination was only decided less than two days before I left. I wanted to end up in England to spend some time with my family, but the original plan was to inter-rail one last time before I am too old (26 years is the cut-off age for cheap rail passes!). So that would take me through Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands- places I have never been. But crossing the channel is a lot more expensive than I was expecting, unless you can book a long time in advance. So despite my best intentions to stay green and not spend any more money on flying, I found a laughably cheap ticket to Greece and packed my bag.

Rhodes is one of the largest of the hundreds of Greek islands spread across the Mediterranean between the mainland and Turkey. It's packed with tourists of course, but still a welcome sight. I explored the old city and ate some excellent food, but booked a ticket on the first boat to Piraeus instead of looking for a place for the night. The journey was 14 hours on a big ferry with hardly any other passengers. I watched the sun slowly sinking towards the horizon from the top deck before it got too cold (it was pretty windy up there).

I found it hard to find a place where I could sleep- hard chairs and benches, even the floor- but ended up in the bar, surrounded by middle-aged Greek men watching the football. Somehow I slept peacefully for eight hours right in the middle of that! I thought it would be the first of many nights on board a ferry- the idea was to spend a week 'island hopping'. Instead my plans changed once again.

The port of Piraeus is now just 30 minutes from the centre of Athens thanks to the brand new metro system which was built for the 2004 Olympics (like a lot of things in Greece). I got lost first, naturally, but found my way in the end. In my travels I have noticed that no matter how big or varied a country is, I always gravitate towards the capital city, and inevitably end up staying. So it was with my trip to Greece. I have only ever heard bad things about Athens- that it's dirty, noisy, polluted and unwelcoming. I found none of those things to be true. It's a little bit messy perhaps, but beautiful and exciting and very much alive. The history of the place is obvious everywhere you look- it's possible to find your way using the Acropolis which is located right at the heart of the city.

I stayed for six nights in Athens and plan to go back as soon as I can. In case it sounds like I had too good a time, I should mention two things: firstly, it rained at least for a short while every day. Secondly I was horrified to see thousands of Liverpool fans suddenly crowding the streets because of the Champions League final (yeah, more football). No offense to these guys, because I'm sure they are good people back home- but they made me really ashamed to be English. They shouted and drank and ate and puked and shouted some more. The Greek police were everywhere too, even closing the amazingly beautiful National Gardens in case there was trouble. I can't say I was too sad when Liverpool lost (sorry Frank if you're reading this!)

The worst part about the mass influx of football morons- sorry, fans- was that every flight to the UK was booked up. I eventually found one going from a tiny airport near Volos, five hours to the north. It's a miracle that I made it there in time, but luckily I was helped on the journey by a succession of helpful Greek bystanders and a lovely old couple on the bus who took pity on me. The language was a major obstacle- nothing about it is familiar, it's way harder than even Portuguese was a few months back. I learned how to count to five and that was about it, for now. Perhaps Greek will join Norwegian on the list of near-useless languages that I know.

Date With Ikea

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 08 May 2007 19:01:00 +0000

I've spent the first month living alone in my new flat. It's only small but it suits me perfectly. I also have a little studio in a 'secret location' close by, and I can get on with some work completely free from distractions (or that's the idea anyway). When I make any progress with the animation I'm working on, I'll post a few images.

If anyone is still in any doubt about how serious I am about staying in Norway, you should consider the fact that I have now bought: a large bed; a table; shelves; a nice rug; a big animator's desk; a kettle and some saucepans; and an entire dinner set. With expensive cutlery. I have only stopped short of investing in curtains, but it's just a matter of time. Last Friday night I found myself riding the free bus to Ikea of all places and buying as much as I could carry. This is the excitement of my life just now... middle age is approaching fast. Soon I will be running in the other direction.